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Singapore. The place is almost mythical, existing in our minds as a cross between Tokyo and the movie set in pirates of the Caribbean 3. The reality is an island urbanised beyond imagination, look off the shore on one side and the horizon is peppered with massive ships waiting to drop cargo onto the bays in stacks of metal containers. The other side is connected to the hazy shores of Malaysia by roads and big metal pipes that carry water to the closely packed apartments and houses. But not for much longer. The Singapore River has recently been transformed into a massive freshwater reservoir, which should free the city from its consumer constraints.

Walls of skyscrapers enclose the river; the river was, in the past, a dividing line between the savage native Singaporeans and the increasing population of westerners, first discovered by the infamous Raffles. The line has blurred between the two and all that remains are the wooden fronted restaurants packed along the riverside marking the entrances to Chinatown.
People here shop like crazy. Malls are attached to every street corner and the shops vary from the repetitive high street stores you find everywhere to the cheaper outlets displaying the current Singapore fashions. The shops open at about ten am and close around ten pm, which is remarkably useful for jetlagged shopaholics. For a bargain you should visit the Far East plaza on Scotts road, and the biggest malls are vivo city at harbour front and plaza singapura at doby ghaut.
Some tourist attractions that are essential not to miss out on are the reverse bungee at Clarke quay, the F1 night race, national day is always very exciting, the main event near esplanade and the Singapore flyer is excellent as you learn lots of new facts about the city. I would not recommend the duck tours as it is rather too costly for the experience.
The art scene is rapidly becoming of interest and there are many museums that you can visit, if you are a student, for free. A notable museum is the Asian civilisations museum, which holds religious artefacts as well as a lot of Asian history. Shows go on at the esplanade, known as the durian (a very smelly fruit indeed) and the arts house.
At night the joggers mill onto the pavements thankful for the cool night air. It never becomes unbearably hot during the day, but air conditioning here is a fact of life. One thing that frustrates people more than anything here is the humidity and the fuzzy affect it has on hair.
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